Mending Fences
by CharlotteBlackwood
Summary: Sophie Kirby should have been a Slytherin. Victoria Lane should have been a Hufflepuff. At least, that was what everyone said. Sophie and Victoria seemed unlikely friends, but decisions and the lack thereof became important definitions of character during the war, and love could be found in even the strangest places. AP/OC, FW/OC, Prequel to And They Lived Happily
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a companion story to my SS/OC story **_**And They Lived Happily**_**, about Victoria's friend Sophie. I liked the idea of her sooo much that I had to write her story. Hope you guys like it!**

"I can't believe you just did that, Sophie," hissed Fred Weasley. "You're such a dirty little sneak sometimes, I could swear that you're secretly a Slytherin."

"What exactly did I do, Fred?" she sighed, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "Toria doesn't seem to be upset with me."

"Toria doesn't rock the boat," growled George. "But you know perfectly well what you did, sweetheart, telling Umbridge that the Edgecombe girl was where to apply the pressure. Have you got any idea of what you've done?"

"Enlighten me," she sighed, pulling her silky black hair into a ponytail as she walked, the twins walking with her. She honestly hadn't cared. Umbridge had promised extra credit, and if she wanted to get into the Healer program at St. Mungo's, she needed someone on her side who could pull that Transfiguration grade to passing.

"Well, as your little Slytherin friends may have mentioned," said Fred.

"You've basically ended all resistance to Umbridge and her tyranny," said George.

"And," said Fred.

"You've also gotten Dumbledore kicked out," added George.

"She's in charge of the whole place now," the groaned together.

"Good," said Sophie. "I don't like the toad any more than either of you, but I need to pass Transfiguration, and she was my ticket to the Healer program. It's nothing personal."

"Nothing bloody personal?" cried Fred. "Godric, Sophie, don't you ever think about anyone but yourself? Why the hell are you in bloody Hufflepuff, anyway? It's obvious you're a Slytherin."

"Because," she hissed, "when someone messes with the ones I love I bring them down in a big way. But no one has. Toria stayed out of the mess you called the DA and Cora and Vi are Slytherins. They were too smart to get their noses bent out of joint."

"And Tien?" demanded George. "Just because she's not in our year doesn't mean you don't care about her. I know you two are close, Sophie. She nearly got detention, or worse. And you know how bad detention is these days."

"No, I don't," she said with a perky little smile. "At least, I don't know on a personal level. If you may remember, my record is as spotless as Toria's and I intend to keep it that way."

Sophie blew the boys a kiss goodbye and waltzed off to the Great Hall, ignoring their outraged expressions and hisses of protest at her abrupt dismissal of them. She knew they didn't really think much of her. She was used to that.

Since Sophie Kirby had been Sorted into Hufflepuff, people had held very low expectations of her. She really didn't mind as much as she ought that people viewed her as simple and easily impressionable. It simply made her adversaries more vulnerable. George, for example, had thought he could just ask her to the Yule Ball and have sex with her because he had been kind enough to ask her.

She didn't think he would have been stupid enough to underestimate her twice, but apparently they were even dumber as a pair.

"Sophie, dear!" cried Cora as she slid into the seat between her two Slytherin best friends. "How are you?"

"Oh, fine, I just have a pair of redheads I'd like to kill," Sophie drawled, "but that's really nothing new, is it?"

Vi Hampson laughed her sweet, musical laugh. Cora MacCarrick snorted.

"No, not really. Are they bitter that their dear Headmaster is gone? Or that they can't have their silly little club anymore?"

"Both," said Sophie through a mouthful of potatoes.

"You know," said Vi softly, "I may not be their biggest fan, but they are rather cute. How can you manage to be mad at them all the time?"

"Very easily," drawled Sophie. "If they're breathing, they're doing something stupid, and if they're doing something stupid, they're making me upset, and so by breathing, they upset me. It's not hard at all."

The truth was, it was very hard to be upset with the Weasley twins for too long, but she hated letting anyone else win an argument. Sophie had an awful lot of pride for a Hufflepuff. It had often served her well, as her friendship with Slytherins, though they be Slytherins like Vi and Cora, made her the enemy not only of much of her own House, but of many Ravenclaws and Gryffindors as well.

In fact, many people wondered where Sophie had gotten such friends, as the three had been close for as long as anyone could remember. The truth was that she had grown up with them. They had really been friends for as long as Sophie herself could remember. Vi and Cora had been the most stable part of her life growing up. Nobody, not even the Weasley brothers, could ever make her give up her friendship with them, Slytherin or no.

The next morning, Sophie settled in at the Hufflepuff table, knowing it was her turn to have her friends come to her. Vi and Cora sat down across from her. Victoria was meant to come sit beside her, but when Victoria Lane entered the Great Hall, she slid into place next to Fred, across from George. Sophie's jaw dropped. Victoria never rocked the boat, never chose a side, always played a fine balance between her Gryffindor friends and her little quartet of Healers-to-be. What was she doing, sitting with the Weasleys when she ought to have been with Sophie? Was she picking a side in this battle?

"Is Toria doing what I think she is?" Sophie whispered to her companions, and Vi and Cora looked over to where the Weasley twins sat, frowning ever-so-slightly.

"It certainly looks like it," Cora muttered, tension in her voice. "You don't think she's upset with us, do you?"

"Upset with _me_," Sophie corrected. "She's upset with me. Probably the twins told her to be upset with me, and you know how she is with Fred Weasley..."

Vi giggled a bit, and Sophie couldn't help but smile.

Victoria Lane was absolutely in love with Fred Weasley. Not that half of their year couldn't say the same, but Fred seemed to be genuinely interested in Victoria, which couldn't be said for most of the girls in their year. Sophie had been sleeping at Victoria's house one year and Victoria had even started talking in her sleep about how much she loved Fred. It was a bit adorable, even if he _was_ a Weasley.

"I still can't believe she would do that," Cora muttered. "I mean, I'm thrilled Dumbledore's gone and amused about the rest of it, but if Toria's going to be siding against us..."

"She's not," Vi said in a soft voice. "Toria doesn't take sides. She can't be siding against us."

"I don't know," Sophie said thoughtfully, watching Fred lean in to whisper something in Victoria's ear. The redheaded girl blushed almost the same color as her hair. "I can think of one reason she'd take sides, at least temporarily."

"Do you really think he would date her just to get her to pick his side?" Vi whispered, eyes wide.

George rolled his eyes and Fred turned Victoria's face by the chin before pressing his lips gently and lingeringly to her lips.

"Looks like it," Sophie muttered, raising an eyebrow across the Great Hall at George, who had noticed she was watching them. His face stayed blank and he didn't turn away from her gaze.

"We can't prove that," Cora pointed out. "Maybe he actually wanted to date her anyway."

"The timing's suspicious," Sophie sighed. "But it doesn't matter. I'm going to handle this anyway."

"How exactly do you expect to do that?" Vi asked, curious.

"I don't know yet," Sophie admitted, tilting her head as she watched Fred and Victoria flirting and giggling. "But George doesn't look too happy about how things have turned out."

It was true. George looked sullen and none too pleased that his twin brother was basically hanging all over Victoria Lane. Sophie smiled to herself. It might be time to make a surprise alliance with George Weasley.

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking," Cora demanded. "You're not thinking of using George to part Toria from the boy she's been mooning over since the first day of Hogwarts."

Sophie smirked, making sure that George saw her do so before turning to pour herself some pumpkin juice, just as Fred and Victoria's lips met once more.

"Maybe I am," Sophie said, still smirking as she lifted the pumpkin juice to her lips, looking back over George who was pointedly looking away from his brother, meeting Sophie's eyes once more.

Yes, it was a bit of a deal with the devil, but nobody could say Sophie hadn't made a few of those in the past.

/-/

Victoria being his girlfriend was, admittedly, an added bonus of the situation. If Sophie Kirby wanted to fight dirty, Fred Weasley could sink right down to her level.

At least, that was what he told himself as he let himself get completely lost in Victoria Lane's gorgeous green eyes and daydream about kissing every inch of her creamy, freckled ivory skin.

She was a pretty girl, he told himself. Wasn't he allowed to appreciate a pretty girl? Especially one he was 'dating'?

But Fred knew it was so much more than that, deep in his core, as he started mentally undressing the girl he'd harbored a secret crush for most of his time at Hogwarts. George hadn't liked when Fred suggested the way of getting back at Sophie, but George wasn't particularly fond of Victoria. He said she didn't have proper Gryffindor spirit, that she should have been in Hufflepuff.

Maybe if she _had_ been Sorted into Hufflepuff George wouldn't have minded Fred's being crazy about her, but George seemed to think that her placement was some sort of personal insult, not to the Gryffindor House, but to George himself. Fred ignored George's petulance and enjoyed his excuses to kiss her perfect lips.

So she was good at avoiding confrontation. So what? Everyone was allowed to have their chance to stay out of fights and difficult decisions when they could. He could certainly envy her that. Fred had never really minded her way of not taking sides as much as George had.

They were in the common room and Victoria was sitting on his lap as the embers were dying down in the fireplace. He was starting to get tired, but he didn't want to go to sleep while she was still up, missing moments with her. He didn't know how long he could make this excuse last, how long he could keep her.

"You don't have to do this, Fred," she said softly.

What? Did have to do what? Stay awake holding her on his lap? Of course he did! He had to savor every moment with her.

"I know why you're doing it."

"What?" he said dumbly, still trying to understand what she was talking about. Victoria turned on his lap so she could face him and it stung that she looked sad and determined. It suddenly hit him what she was talking about.

"I know you're using me to get back at Sophie," she whispered. "I... I'm okay with it. I mean, I wanted to date you, and I guess I'll take what I can get and if it's revenge on Sophie, I'll take it. I know she'll be mad at me, but I can handle that, for a little while. She'll understand."

Fred blinked. She wanted to date him? Could it be possible that she wanted him as much as he wanted her? Maybe he hadn't had to use the excuse after all!

"Toria, I'm crazy about you," he admitted. "I was using this as an opportunity, because I figured George wouldn't let me even try otherwise."

Victoria blinked, her mouth not making noise as it worked. Finally she said, "Me? You like me?"

Fred couldn't help but grin as he pressed his lips to hers to show her how much he liked her. To his pleasure, she began kissing him back eagerly wrapping her arms around his neck as he focused on how much he loved the taste of her lips... Those plump, perfect lips...

And he wanted to take it farther, to taste her whole mouth, to taste the rest of her sweet, pale skin...

Trying to keep control over himself, he pulled out of the kiss reluctantly, feeling a thrill go through him as he realized that she was making a disappointed sound.

"So now what?" he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. "Would... would you mind being my girl? Like, for real?"

"Can I?" she said softly, and his heart swelled happily as he kissed her again, holding her tightly against him and wishing he never had to let go.

When he finally went up to bed that night, he lay awake staring at the ceiling, imagining a future with Victoria, where George finally was okay with it and Sophie wasn't trying to use Victoria for her own selfish purposes. It was a nice future, he decided.

"Fred?" George groaned. "Did she finally go to sleep?"

"I..." Fred debated with himself silently. "George, I love her. I mean... I think I do. I really, really like her."

There was silence for a moment and then he heard George shifting on his bed, then the soft, brief padding of feet on the floor before the bed hangings around Fred's bed were jerked open and George was looking down at him, frowning ominously in the near-darkness.

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

"I know you're not exactly thrilled about any of this," Fred whispered, "and I know this confession is about to make it even worse, but you're my twin and I can't keep something like this from you. I hope you'll understand. But... but I'm crazy about her and as it turns out she really likes me and even without Sophie and all this... I want her to be my girl, George. You know what it's like out there. You know we might not have a lot of time. I don't want to waste it pretending anymore."

George's face was contorted with rage. Fred knew he was walking a thin line, his twin or Victoria. It was a choice he didn't want to make, but he knew if George calmed down a bit, he would continue to not be approving, but he wouldn't make him choose. And Fred didn't want to choose.

"This is what you want?" George demanded. "You're sure? A girl who barely belongs in Gryffindor? Well, at least she's a redhead or Mum would flip."

"I'm not marrying the girl," Fred said sheepishly, although he wasn't completely against the idea. "I just want to date her."

"That's how it starts," George sighed. "You know dating has only two possible outcomes, right?"

Fred nodded. Bill had told them before, when he determined they were old enough to start dating no matter what their mother said. Dating can only end in dumping or marriage.

It was something to keep in mind, but as Fred didn't exactly have a problem imagining himself marrying Victoria, didn't have a problem picturing their life together, he wasn't too concerned about the dumping or marrying options. He would never hurt her.

"So this is what you want," George sighed. "Victoria Lane? Freddie, you could have a lot of girls. What's so special about this one?"

Fred shrugged, looking down at his twin's cloth-covered kneecaps.

"I can't put my finger on it yet, George," he admitted. "She's beautiful."

"So's Angelina."

"She's smart."

"So's Alicia."

"She's sweet."

"So's Katie."

"She looks at me with those big green eyes and she makes my whole body just melt," he sighed, half embarrassed that he'd said it out loud, half pleased to get it off of his chest. "Nobody else does that, George. Nobody."

George frowned a bit deeper, contemplatively, biting the inside of his lip slightly, which Fred couldn't see but knew was happening because it was what George always did when he was thinking very hard about something important.

"I guess if you want to have a thing with Victoria Lane you can," George said slowly. "I mean, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you've gone a bit loopy, but I couldn't stop you if I wanted, anyway."

"Really?" Fred snorted. "C'mon, George, you know that we're twins. We don't do things without clearing it with each other. I was worried you might side with Sophie Kirby on this one."

"Honestly?" George snorted back. "There's hardly anything that could make me side with that should-be Slytherin. Why do you think she isn't in Slytherin?"

It was something the pair had speculated about often, as though she deserved their time and attention. Fred just shrugged. His money had always been that there were certain people she wouldn't step on to get what she wanted, or maybe that she thought blood purity was a bunch of crap. She was, after all, 'best friends' in her way with Victoria, who was half-blood, but half wasn't Muggle-born, George had always argued back.

When George realized that Fred wasn't going to say any more on the topic, he told Fred goodnight and went back to sleep, back to his own bed, leaving Fred to ponder in silence exactly how he might find out of the rest of Victoria tasted as divinely intoxicating as her lips.

The thoughts that went through his mind as he contemplated his options were beautiful, Fred decided as sleep began to take over his mind, twisting the wishful thinking into delicious dreams full of her beautiful red hair, pale skin, and luscious green eyes. She tasted divine, even in his dreams.


	2. Selling Your Soul

Sophie wandered through the hallways of Hogwarts, looking around her as though bored, but not really being bored, exactly. She was gathering information about everyone as she went, noticing everything that went on around her. One never knew when one would need information about someone, so Sophie always tried to file away everything she heard and saw for a day she might need it.

Most of what she heard that day was useless. Talk about homework, gossiping about Dumbledore's leaving the school, negative words about Snape's latest essay assignment. That might be useful, Sophie thought. For a non-Slytherin, she happened to be fairly high up in his regard, but that could always change. Things could always change.

Sophie filed away the information and wandered along, listening and searching at the same time, searching for George Weasley.

She wasn't as good with telling the twins apart as Victoria was, Sophie was sad to note, but she'd had seven years of practice. Surely that would be good enough for her purposes. The trick was going to be getting George on his own, talking with him where Fred wouldn't be able to hear. There had to be something she could do to separate the inseparable pair.

And there he was, standing with a group of first years surrounding him, looking a bit jumpy.

Ah, he was trying to get first years to test his products. Whether he was looking for teachers or watching out for that frumpy little Gryffindor prefect who thought she was queen of the world, but Sophie thought she might be able to use his slight jumpiness to her advantage.

"Hello," she said in a sweet voice, knowing he thought she was Umbridge as he jumped, turning to face her.

"Oh, it's you," he snarled, disgusted.

"Good to see you, too, Weasley," she said dryly, raising an eyebrow. "If you're not too busy breaking laws..."

"What d'you mean, breaking laws?" he snarled.

"It's not legal to test products on underage wizards and witches without consent of their parents," Sophie said sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes. "I need to speak with you, George. I trust you'll have a moment to talk?"

George watched her warily for a moment, trying to decide if she was bluffing or not.

She was certainly bluffing, completely making up that law, although it seemed like a reasonable one. If it didn't exist, it ought to, but George would look it up later. In that moment, he couldn't afford to risk it being true.

"Scram," he said to the first years. "We'll be in touch."

The grouping of little people scurried away as though they'd been on the ready to do so. George had probably ensured that they be ready to bolt away on a word. Sophie had to admit to herself, she was rather impressed with how quickly they'd hurried away.

"What do you want, Kirby?" George said roughly. "I don't have time for you to be encroaching on my business, or are you trying to get me kicked out of school, like you did with Dumbledore?"

"Now, now, play nice," she teased. "I swear my claws stay in if yours do."

"That's quite a promise," he spat. "What do you want with me, Kirby? I need to know what's going on so I can decide whether or not I want to take a chance with my claws."

"All right," Sophie sighed, looking around to make sure no one was around to listen. "I know you're not particularly fond of whatever Fred is up to with Toria. Neither am I."

"Where's this going?" he asked suspiciously.

"Let's put an end to it," Sophie said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

George cocked his head slightly, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Let me get this straight," he muttered. "You want me to help you make both your best friend and my best friend completely miserable because we feel left out. You want her back because you're a selfish cow and I want Fred back because I don't think Victoria's good enough for him, and you think that this somehow makes us the perfect partners in crime?"

"Precisely," Sophie said, running a teasing finger down the front of his chest, feel his muscles with a bit of surprise through the material of his robes. Perhaps it was the Quidditch that had made him so fit. No wonder Victoria had spent years drooling after Fred.

George frowned, and she couldn't believe how incredibly unreadable he was. She was so used to being able to read her opponents like books, but there she was trying to read something, anything, in the eyes of George Weasley.

"I'll get back to you on that, Kirby," he finally said, his voice as unreadable as his face. "It's a big decision, you understand. I need time to think."

She could understand needing time to think, but she had a feeling that it had the potential to sink what she was going for. She couldn't very well insist that he make up his mind right there and then, so she preferred to see the bright side and suppose that if she gave him time he would grow more and more sick with whatever game Fred Weasley was playing with her Victoria.

"All right," she said. "Take some time to think, but don't take too long. We're going to need time for planning."

"Of course, princess," he snarled. "I'll get back to you by the end of tomorrow. Will that suffice?"

"Fine," Sophie sighed. "Talk to you then."

She watched him go, nervous about what he might decide while she was unable to actively whisper persuasions into his ear, but she would take what she could get. She would not let the Weasleys best her. She would get her friend back.

"Sophie!"

Sophie put on her brightest smile and turned to face that same friend, who was breathless and excited.

"Toria!" she said happily. "I was wondering where you'd got to, dear!"

"I don't suppose you've heard the news," Victoria said breathlessly. "I mean, I guess you probably saw me with Fred but... but we're dating, Sophie, can you believe it?"

"Hardly," Sophie said as casually as if Victoria had just told her that the sky was blue, or grey as it often was in Scotland. But she supposed it was blue on principle. "We have a Transfiguration assignment to do, dear. We need to be getting to the library."

"Oh," Victoria said, her eyes a little bit wide with surprise. "I was actually meant to work on Charms with Fred. But... but I'll find you later and we can work then, okay?"

"Ah, sure," Sophie lied, her face falling a bit. "Don't forget!"

"I won't!" Victoria said eagerly, kissing her fried on the cheek before hurrying away, leaving Sophie standing alone, frowning after the red-haired Gryffindor girl.

"This has got to stop," she muttered to herself.

"What does?" asked the voice of Cora, who was standing there with Vi.

"Whatever this is that's happening with Fred Weasley and our Toria," Sophie said firmly, frowning at her friends. "I don't like it."

"They're cute together," Vi tittered. "Besides, you didn't always hate the twins. We used to all sort of be friends."

Well, Sophie and Victoria and the twins had been friends, with Lee there in the mix most of the time, and Vi and Cora were usually allowed to tag along because Victoria would start to cry if the twins tried to exclude them, and Fred had never been able to stand Victoria's tears. Sophie had taken advantage of that situation as she had taken advantage of all positive set-ups in her life. She'd taken advantage of Victoria's easy tears and Fred Weasley's weakness for them to get her and her friends the many advantages of Fred and George Weasley's intense knowledge of the castle.

But it hadn't lasted, of course. Eventually Victoria grew up enough to stop crying so easily and George put his foot down more firmly against Slytherins, and Sophie said if Vi and Cora weren't welcome, than she didn't feel welcome, and George said that was good, because she wasn't.

And so they'd grown apart quite rapidly.

"If you think of them as former friends," Sophie said derisively, "then you've either got a poor memory or poor standards for friends. They couldn't stand you two. They barely stood me. It was always Toria they wanted."

And that had, apparently, not changed very much, but Sophie was determined to get her way whether it had changed or not. She was counting on George's loss of his twin to someone he thought less-than-worthy to push him to drastic measures. She wasn't entirely sure yet how drastic of measures she herself would be willing to take. Part of that would depend on the manner and speed of George's response.

One thing was certain, though: she wasn't going to stand by and watch her friend be used as a weapon against her.

/-/

George watched Fred and Victoria Lane as they worked on Fred's Charms. He knew his twin was hamming up the minimal difficulty he'd had with the coursework to spend more time with the girl. Fred wasn't that needy, and it made George feel slightly sick to watch.

But his brother was in love with the girl, so George really did have to do a lot of thinking before he decided how he was going to deal with the proposition Sophie Kirby had laid in front of him.

At one time, George would have even possibly admitted his crush on Sophie, but it had dwindled rapidly the more he got to know her, and he no longer would even admit to it ever having existed with anyone but Fred.

But Sophie Kirby, without knowing the girl, was far from undesirable. Pretty, poised, and with lips that just begged to be kissed. Even without having a crush on her George could acknowledge that he still sometimes wondered what those pretty lips tasted like, what it would feel like to run his hands along her alabaster skin, how her lithe body would feel wrapped around him. He shuddered a little at the thought, glad that Fred and Victoria were too caught up in each other to notice.

He had to stop thinking of things like that, especially if he was supposed to make a proper and considerate decision concerning what Sophie had offered.

George shook his mind clear, watching the pair again, weighing pros and cons.

If he decided to turn down Sophie, whatever was going on between his twin and this girl could run its course naturally, and while George wasn't too fond of that idea, George was obviously in love and who was George to deny his brother something like that?

George lusted after Sophie Kirby. That was different. Half the boys in the school lusted after her, and she used the fact to her advantage, frequently. Sophie knew just how gorgeous and desirable she was. Victoria, on the other hand, who George had to admit was definitely beautiful, didn't seem to be at all aware of the fact. She always flushed, embarrassed, whenever anyone told her how good she looked. George could see the charm in a girl like that, who was unaware of her own charms. It was certainly less dangerous than a girl like Sophie not only was aware of her charms, but was very good at using them to her own ends.

What harm could it do, George asked himself, for Fred to have something he wanted so much? Sophie would be out for the blood of both twins for taking her friend from her, but George wasn't sure there would be a way to avoid that at this point, for if Fred and Victoria broke up Victoria would be devastated and...

Well, she'd be dependent on Sophie. Maybe that had been the plan all along, breaking her heart so that she would be dependent on her best friend.

"Fred," George finally said, turning to his twin. "Can I borrow you for something? It should only be a quick moment and then you two can get back to work."

Fred looked up at him with a questioning face, obviously wondering what could be so important that his twin would drag him from the woman he thought he loved... and perhaps he did. George didn't know. Fred seemed to decide, though, that George was being sincere and he kissed Victoria's forehead and said they'd only be a minute and for her not to do anything to fun without him. She giggled as they left.

"What's so important, then?" Fred insisted as soon as they were out of earshot of Victoria, who had turned back to her Charms text with a pondering look on her pretty face.

"Sophie Kirby approached me earlier," George said solemnly. "Seems to think I might be interested in helping her break the two of you up. Seems she misses her precious Toria enough to treat with me for a while."

Fred frowned, looking over at Victoria for a moment, then turning back to George.

"What did you say?"

"I told her I'd think about it," George said softly. "I didn't want to say yes without talking to you, and I didn't want to say no without talking to you, either."

"Why?" Fred demanded.

"Look," George sighed, "I'm not you. I'm not usually very vindictive, but Sophie's going to hurt Victoria if we let her have her way, just so that she can keep her under her thumb. And I'm not a fan of this union, but I know how much she means to you, and I'm not really one for watching nice girls cry. Whatever Victoria Lane may be, she's a very nice girl."

"Of course she is," Fred said suspiciously. "But don't think I've forgotten that you used to have a thing for Sophie, before she spurned you. What exactly are you suggesting?"

"I go along with it," George said with a soft smile. "I get in on her plans, but I tell you everything, and you can choose whether or not you want to tell your lady-love. And then, whenever the time's right, we turn it on her."

Fred frowned slightly.

"It might work," he admitted. "Are we still planning on making Umbridge's life hell? Isn't this quite a lot of extra work?"

"It's either this," George insisted, "or watching Victoria Lane cry."

George watched his twin sigh, run his fingers anxiously through his hair, and then look back over to where Victoria was poring over her textbook, scribbling down notes every few minutes.

"I can't stand for her to be unhappy," Fred finally muttered. "What did you have in mind?"

With a grin, George explained the plan to Fred, and with a few minor modifications they shook on it, Fred returned to Victoria, who greeted him with a sweet smile, and George went off to find Sophie Kirby.

George borrowed a quick look at the Marauder's Map from Harry and found that she was sitting in the Charms courtyard, and he hurried there, and tried to convince himself that he was hurrying so much because he really wanted to get this started and help his brother out, and not because he wanted to see what Sophie had planned for him.

But when he got to the courtyard and saw her sitting there, pretending to read the textbook he knew she really didn't care about at all, he felt his heart race a bit, trying not to stare at the curve of her legs. He licked his lips slightly, moving toward her with the confidence that a Weasley twin should have when doing business.

Because that's all this was. Business.

Why was it so hard to convince himself of that, he wondered, as she put her book down and looked up at him with an eyebrow expectantly raised at him as he sat beside her.

"I've considered," he said softly, knowing that if he tried to be too bold his voice would fail him.

"And your decision?" she asked.

He tried to calm his heart, to not lick his lips again. It would betray him to even breathe too heavily. But who was he trying to deceive, Sophie or himself?

"I think there could be some merit to your proposal," he said slowly. "But there's quite a lot of risk on my part. He's not just my best friend, Kirby, he's my twin brother. Betraying him like this would ruin our bond, and I'm not entirely certain I'm willing to risk that. Have you got something to sweeten the deal?"

This was it. This would decide whether or not he was actually going to go through with this crazed, selfish plan and call it a kindness to make himself feel less guilty.

She smirked like the cat that got the cream and moved a bit closer to him, and George couldn't help but swallow. He should have been thinking of all the boys those beautiful lips had kissed, not what it would be like if they were pressed against his, but it was so hard to remember what he should be thinking of when she was so close that he could smell her.

"Why don't you call me Sophie, George?" she purred. "I think if we're going to be working together, we shouldn't be so formal."

"B-but I haven't said that we-"

George's attempt at cleverness was cut off as her lips did crash into his, and the world seemed to spin slightly. His heart raced even more and he felt his hands twitching, wondering if the rest of her felt as divine as her lips.

Before he'd actually let his hands reach out for any part of her, however, she pulled away, winked, and walked off.

"Merlin's bloody balls," George sighed. "That girl's a drug."

And that was the scariest part of all. She was a highly addictive stimulant, and she knew it, and he was wondering what he'd gotten himself into.


	3. Time Apart

Sophie had to admit, working with George Weasley wasn't as bad as she would have expected. Sure, she had to put up with his cheesy jokes and asinine questions, but he was a very, very good kisser.

Kissing wouldn't keep him on her side forever, though, and if things got desperate, Sophie knew that she was going to have to up her game. Part of her was disgusted at the thought, but the strength she knew was in those arms, the chiseled torso she knew he had... Well, sleeping with George Weasley would certainly have more advantages than she would ever tell a soul.

As far as trying to pick apart Victoria and Fred, things weren't going quite so well. The pair were actually mad for each other, as far as Sophie could tell, and George wasn't able to turn up with anything useful.

"He's not really listening to me," George said, touching Sophie's hair at their meeting that night. "Everything I say about her seems to bounce right off. You're going to need to come up with a new method because this isn't getting us anywhere."

Sophie raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"You're going to have to be more specific," she said. "What have you been saying to him?"

"Exactly what you told me to," George said softly, running his fingers through her hair. "Why don't we thinking about it while doing something unrelated?"

Her heart was racing. It was actually racing. How was he so capable of making her forget what they were there for?

"Don't you think we ought to talk about our work?" she whispered, watching his lips coming closer to hers, and he just laughed, moving closer, pressing his lips to hers. At first, Sophie debated with herself on pulling away, making him work harder for what he was getting.

But then he started to nibble on her lip, started to draw circles on her waist with his thumbs, and she forgot all her perfectly good reasons for making him work for her. Why would she make him work harder? Why would she deny herself such tempting kisses?

For that matter, why had she denied herself the chance to sleep with him at the Yule Ball? How had she managed to say no?

Or maybe she was forgetting something. Maybe he'd become a better kisser with time. She wasn't sure anymore what might have changed, and when he parted her lips to inject her tongue into his mouth she didn't even care.

George was pressing her up against the desk, his hands on her waist, her hands tangling up in his soft ginger hair, and he nibbled on her lip lightly, which made her squeak with surprise.

Sophie wasn't used to being surprised. She wasn't sure how she felt about him surprising her, but she did know that he was an incredibly good kisser, and if Fred was only half as good she could completely understand why Victoria was so head-over-heels about the boy and maybe...

No, she had to be in control of the situation, and that meant not letting him pull her in on something like this.

"George," she said, unhappy that it came out as more of a moan as he pressed his lips hotly against her neck. "George, we... we..."

He continued to ignore her, pressing her even more tightly against the desk, his hardness pressed against her stomach through his trousers. It felt larger than she'd expected. Sophie sighed in spite of herself, bracing herself against the desk and digging her nails into the wood as he put his leg between hers.

"You need to relax," he muttered. When had the room become so close, so hot? His lips pressed to hers again. Sophie gripped his shoulders, briefly debating whether to push him away or pull him closer, and she decided to pull him closer. In response he ground his leg against her, shooting a bundle of sensations through that she hadn't felt in decidedly too long.

Sophie had been 'being good', for Sophie. She had been following the path that would lead her to being a Healer, because she didn't want to screw that up, ignoring all manner of distractions to that goal.

She tilted her head back and let him kiss his way down her neck, pausing to nip and suck at the skin just at her collarbone. Her hands went from his shoulders to wrapping around his neck, pulling him closer, leaning back more on the desk and pulling him on top of her.

More. She wanted more of him, to feel him and touch him and taste him and run her fingers across his body and...

She moaned again, being pushed back onto her back on the table, feeling him crawl on top of her, his lips pressing against hers again.

If she didn't do something, she was going to lose complete control of the whole situation and she didn't know what she would do if somehow she surrendered power to George in their interactions. Sophie had never surrendered anything in her life, and she wasn't about to start now, no matter how much she wanted to know what his hands would feel like running across even the most delicate parts of her skin.

So somehow she managed to sit up a bit, breaking off the kiss and pushing in away, firmly but not unkind.

"George, please," she sighed. "Not right now. Not like this. I... I..."

He seemed bewildered for a moment, but seemed to take it rather well after that, nodding and moving on to talk of Victoria and Fred for the remainder of their time. Sophie tried not to think about the strange way he was able to change gear so quickly and how haunting that was, like something she might do.

George couldn't be playing her like she was playing him... could he?

No, she didn't want to think of that and she pushed the thought aside as she went on with her day.

Thankfully, Sophie left for Easter holidays the next morning and she had some time to clear her mind of George and reevaluate how she was approaching the whole issue.

That, and she was spending the holiday with Victoria at her house.

"I don't know," Victoria sighed as they packed their things into Sophie's mother's car. "I mean, there are only six weeks until N.E.W.T.s. Shouldn't we have packed more books?"

"Don't worry, I brought half, you brought half," Sophie replied with a shrug. "We're covered. Besides, we're not going to be at my house for all six weeks, we're only gone for a little while."

"I guess you're right," Victoria said nervously.

She always got nervous about the silliest things, Sophie mused. How was she going to manage dating a Weasley brother if she couldn't relax about things sometimes?

"Did I pack enough clothes?" she mused, more to herself than to Sophie or Mrs. Kirby.

"You packed plenty," Sophie groaned. "Can we not psychoanalyze what we did or didn't bring for holiday? It's done now. Even Merlin himself couldn't summon something you forgot from the school at this point so why don't we just talk about something else?"

"Right," Victoria murmured, her face flushing nearly as red as her hair from embarrassment.

Sophie was so thrilled when they pulled into the driveway that she nearly cheered, which would have been completely out of character. Instead, she burst out of the car the moment it came to a full and complete stop.

"All right, in the house we go," she said determinedly, trying to explain her behavior without appearing rude or out-right explaining it.

Not that such a gesture was necessary with Victoria. Victoria never questioned anything at all. She was too afraid to suggest that someone might have been rude to her, in case she herself would appear rude.

The house was three stories of Victorian era beauty that Sophie's mother had devoted the years since her marriage to perfecting and polishing to exquisite, show-worthy glory. If people thought Sophie Kirby was pretentious (and she was), she had nothing compared to her house. Victoria, who had been there several times before, looked up at the house with such a state of anxiety that Sophie half wanted to reassure her that anything that was broken could be repaired easily with magic.

If only Sophie's mother had been reassuring about such things during her daughter's childhood. Instead, she had been told that if she had been caught breaking something, even accidentally, she would be punished for a period of time proportional to the value of the object she broke, regardless of the object's ability to be fixed. It certainly wasn't the environment that encouraged indoor play to a young, rambunctious girl, which was, perhaps, exactly what Mrs. Kirby had been going for all along.

Victoria, on the other hand, was a guest, and guests were taught that any damage, even if it was entirely their fault, is rather the fault of the host or hostess for placing something in an improper part of the mantle or something ridiculous.

Settling in during the holidays was never easy to do, but Sophie did busy herself with making sure that Victoria, who was in the room next door, was entirely comfortable in the same guest room she always stayed in when she was spending any amount of time in the Kirby household.

It could have been the same exactly layout as Sophie's room, except that where the guest room had a carved mahogany bed, Sophie's bed was made of cherry wood. The bookshelves were also on the opposite wall from Sophie's, and the carpet was about two shades lighter blue than Sophie's. The overall color scheme was the same blue and cream, though. The same soft gold trim. The same French windows and the same armoires. The same china washbasins and the same ivory and gilded hand mirrors.

"I'm always surprised by how beautiful it is here," Victoria admitted, putting down her bag at the foot of the four-post bed and sighing heavily. "Every time I come back it seems more beautiful." She nibbled her lip nervously for a moment as she looked over at Sophie. "Thanks for having me. I guess this is the last time we do this, huh?"

And so it was, Sophie realized. So it was.

/-/

George tried not to think about the way she had kissed him as he laid there, wide awake, staring at the hangings around his bed. Fred was moping about Victoria leaving him for the Easter holidays, leaving George far too much time to thinking about the way Sophie's hair smelled, or the way he felt when she got her fingers tangled up in his hair.

He hadn't a doubt in his mind that she wanted him. She was very good at her games and her lies, but there had been a truth behind those kisses and touches, and he knew it because she had tried to cover up her reactions the last time they had been together. Rather, she had failed to hide her desire.

For some reason, there wasn't as much satisfaction in getting that desire as he thought ought to have been there, but George just shook his head, trying to rid himself of the vision he had of her lying back on the desk, looking up at him with want in her eyes.

It was a tough image to get rid of, but if George wanted to get through his day normally he would have to dispel it from his mind. He couldn't concentrate on anything else if he was thinking of the heat of her lips or the taste of her breath or the feel of her skin, soft against his.

"George?" said Fred's voice from the other side of the hangings. "We've got breakfast soon. Are you coming or are you still not feeling well?"

George had faked ill in order to go to bed early the night before, too preoccupied with his thoughts of Sophie to do anything else.

He entertained the idea of continuing to fake sick for a bit longer, but he knew that wouldn't be fair to Fred and he knew they had things to go over while Victoria was gone. If they waited on their plans until she got back Fred might scrap the whole thing altogether and decide to stay at the school to be closer to her, and that wouldn't do. George might think it was all right of them to be dating, but he wasn't going to let Fred hurt their futures for the girl.

They went down to breakfast and Fred and George put some sausages and kippers on their plates, pouring pumpkin juice and not speaking through the tension that surrounded them.

Finally, putting down his goblet after a long drink, Fred turned to George and said, "You've not fallen for Sophie Kirby, have you? You've not changed your mind?"

George considered that for a long moment.

Did he still want her? Oh, Merlin, yes he did. But had he fallen for her? Would she be able to actually sway him to betray Fred?

"No," he finally said. "No, I haven't. You're safe."

"Good," Fred said. "Good."

They continued to eat breakfast in silence, fewer words between them than they'd spoken together in that period of time than they'd done for any comparable time period in all of their lives. It felt a bit bitter, but George knew that it wouldn't last. Things were just tense because Fred knew that George hadn't really been feeling ill and he was nervous about what Sophie would say to Victoria while they were away.

"I don't know if she's in any state to try to tear you apart right now," George said as they walked back to the common room. "I think she was very confused when she left."

"What do you mean?" Fred asked, settling down with George and pulling out the plans for the shelves in the shop they'd bought. "What did you do to her?"

George smirked.

"I won't go so far as to say she's falling for me," George said judiciously. "But she's definitely thinking she might be, and that sort of confusion should be enough to keep her preoccupied until we know what we want to do about her with this whole mess. What are we doing, by the way?"

"I don't know yet," Fred said with a frown. "I mean, there's so many things that cross my mind, but I'm worried that I'll have to talk with Toria about them and you know how scared she is about crossing anyone, much less Kirby."

"Yes, I know," George said, not wanting to let his frustration with Victoria's inability to act on her own emotions to leak into his voice. But it did, and it was a miracle that Fred was so lost in whatever he was thinking about to chastise him for it. He was probably thinking about Victoria, actually.

After a while they were able to get over the awkwardness of the beginning of this new arrangement, the break and the girls they were all wrapped up with being gone. It took most of the day, but George and Fred were finally able to talk about their plans and their typical jokes and futures and whatnot without any awkward tension between them.

It was a good thing, really. George had begun to wonder whether Fred's obsession with Victoria had changed things between them permanently... or maybe whether his desire for Sophie had.

Sophie wasn't his, though. Anything that changed between them because of her wasn't permanent by definition, because that girl had no ability to have a permanent relationship. She was too cold, too calculating, too selfish. George vaguely wondered whether she would end up alone because of that, and if she would be lonely or if she wouldn't even notice that she was alone, that that was something she shouldn't want.

George tried to push her out of his mind, though. This was his time alone with Fred, a time when the girls and the head games were no longer in the way, in between them. Things were back to normal for a short while.

That worked during the day well enough, that reminder, but when he was lying in bed at night, staring at the bed hangings and trying to fall asleep she was right there, in every corner of his mind, right in the corner of his eye, barely slipping between his fingers and her name on the tip of his tongue. He didn't want it to be this way. He was sure that if he possessed her, just once, the spell would be broken and he wouldn't be so consumed with this desire for her.

Just once, just for long enough for once, he determined... He had to beat her at her own games just once and then he would be free and she could get on with her own life and stop plaguing his dreams.

Because they didn't feel like dreams anymore, not like they had been a year ago when he'd asked her to the Yule Ball. They felt like nightmares now, his sex with her in that dream world turning violent, bloody even. And George didn't work that way. He didn't really want to break her skin with a knife just to make her vulnerable, but this obsession had gotten out of hand somewhere along the line.

George awoke with a start, sitting straight up in his bed and feeling his hands which he was so sure for a moment would be covered in her blood, but it wasn't there. His hands were clean.

It was his subconscious that was guilty.

George took a deep, steadying breath and clenched his fists, balling up his sheets in his hands.

This had to stop, and it had to stop soon, before someone got hurt for real, not just in his nightmares.


End file.
